An App for That…Whatever

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Are today’s mobile phones too smart for their own good?

Perhaps so.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project survey results released today, only 25% of cell phone users who have installed “Apps” on their phones actually use them. Perhaps even more interestingly, a fair number of the nearly 2000 respondents were not even sure if their phones supported app installs or not.

The PIALP says 82 percent of U.S. adults own cellphones, but only 35 percent of those people have apps on their phone. Even fewer, 24 percent, actually use the apps they have, and 11 percent aren’t even sure whether their phones have apps in the first place. The study defines U.S. adults as anyone 18 years of age or older.

These findings are apparently the complete opposite of other recent opinions published that suggest, “The Web is Dead” or that “within five years global internet consumption on mobile devices will surpass the same activity on PCs”.  It may be that these predictions will play out over time.  However, the current trends might suggest we still have a bit of time left to wait and see.

PIALP_apps

The survey results includes findings from two distinct studies: a Pew Internet telephone survey of 2,252 U.S. adults age 18 and older, conducted by Princeton Survey Research International between April 29 and May 30, 2010; and Nielsen data from an analysis of 3,962 adults (age 18+) gathered in the December 2009 Apps Playbook.

Photo credit: @adedip via Flickr

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  • http://www.intellectsoft.net/ mobile development

    Indeed, this statistics is very curious. But I would't say I'm too much surprised by it. I know quite a bit of people that don't care about their phones too much. Yes, they have got very cool and very smart phones — but it seems to me, in our time it's just kind of obligation to accent one's social status by buing such expensive devices. Few of non-geeky people really care about the extended functionality of their high-end gadgets.

  • http://twitter.com/ruviwije Ruvi Wijesuriya

    I too have noticed this and have observed that iPhones are used more as a fashion statement than a smart phone. I am sad to have noticed that people spend more time picking out the appropriately chic skin/case than learning how to use the extensive functionality of their smart phones.

  • http://alti.asu.edu/ Guy Mullins

    Interesting as there are so many wonderful apps on the market too. Why don't people use their smart phones more often? Consider “Poop the World” (http://pooptheworld.com/) that finally provides a way for people to use their smart phones to “track your bowel movements in real-time, keep an eye on things, share with friends, and make it fun!”

  • Sean Dudley

    The study strikes me as significantly misleading. If I answered “Play a game” I'm probably referring to an app such as Angry Birds (http://www.rovio.com/index.php?page=angry-birds). I might also be inclined to say I listen to music, but do so using the Pandora app. What's going on here is confusion over what's an 'app' and what is not, and whether there's a proper distinction between apps that come with my phone and those that do not. Both are certainly apps (though the survey suggests they are not equal) so the distinction issue is secondary. Most of these categories are prone to this confusion. Some further questions come to mind. Why is instant messaging not considered app use? What about email use (this could certainly be the GMail or Yahoo apps, etc or exclusive use of the *app* supplied by the manufacturer)?

  • Sean Dudley

    The study strikes me as significantly misleading. If I answered “Play a game” I'm probably referring to an app such as Angry Birds (http://www.rovio.com/index.php…). I might also be inclined to say I listen to music, but do so using the Pandora app. What's going on here is confusion over what's an 'app' and what is not, and whether there's a proper distinction between apps that come with my phone and those that do not. Both are certainly apps (though the survey suggests they are not equal) so the distinction issue is secondary. Most of these categories are prone to this confusion. Some further questions come to mind. Why is instant messaging not considered app use? What about email use (this could certainly be the GMail or Yahoo apps, etc or exclusive use of the *app* supplied by the manufacturer)?